91 Notable alumni of Colby College

Chester Earl Merrow was a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire.

Leslie Colby Cornish was a chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

Edwin Francis Lyford was an American lawyer and politician who served on the Springfield, Massachusetts, city council, as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and in the Massachusetts State Senate.

Robert Byron Boyd was an American politician and businessperson from Maine. A Republican from Augusta, Boyd served as Secretary of State of Maine from 1897 to 1907.

Frederick Morgan Padelford, pronounced Pa-DEL-ford, was an American professor and author. He worked at the University of Washington in Seattle for 41 years. He chaired the English Department and served as dean of the graduate school. The Orbis Cascade Alliance has a collection of his papers.

Percival Bonney was a judge of the Maine Superior Court.

Edgar Harkness Gray was an American Baptist clergyman who served as Chaplain of the Senate.

Warren Coffin Philbrook was a justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and Attorney General of Maine. A Republican, Philbrook served in a variety of political, legal, and judicial roles throughout the U.S. State of Maine throughout his career. Philbrook was a Freemason and a member of the Knights of Pythias, where he served as Chancellor Commander of Maine.

Daniel K. Webster is an American attorney and politician who represented the 6th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 2003 to 2013. Webster is a graduate of Colby College in Maine and Suffolk University Law School in Boston.

Nathaniel J. Butler was the 12th President of Colby College, Maine, United States from 1896 to 1901.

John Edward Nelson was a United States representative from Maine. He was born in China, Kennebec County, Maine on July 12, 1874.

Asher Crosby Hinds was an American newspaperman and politician who served three terms as a United States representative from Maine from 1911 to 1917.

Edward Forrest Goodwin was a United States representative from Maine. He was born in Skowhegan, Maine and attended the common schools, graduated from Skowhegan High School and Bloomfield Academy. He also graduated from Colby College and the Boston University School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in 1889 and commenced practice in Skowhegan.

Benjamin White Norris was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party he U.S. Representative from Alabama.

Richard Cutts Shannon was a U.S. representative from New York.

Josiah Hayden Drummond was an American attorney and politician. He served as Maine Attorney General from 1860 to 1863.

Seth Llewellyn Milliken was a U.S. representative from Maine.

Louise Helen Coburn was one of the five founders of Sigma Kappa sorority, a pioneer for women's education at Colby College, where she served as the first female trustee, and an accomplished scientist and writer known for writing the two volumes of Skowhegan on the Kennebec.

James K. Hawkins is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Hawkins serves in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 2nd Bristol District since 2018, which includes all but one precinct of Attleboro.

Charles Pembroke Nelson was an American politician and a member of the US House of Representatives from Maine.

Stephen Coburn was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Maine.

Mary Caffrey Low Carver was an American librarian and educator. She was one of the five founding members of the Sigma Kappa sorority and a pioneering advocate for women's education, along with being an accomplished library scientist and writer. She was also the first female student of Colby College.

Peter Forman is president and CEO of the South Shore (MA) Chamber of Commerce. He was formerly an American politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Sheriff of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, and as a member of the Paul Celucci and Jane M. Swift administrations.

Mark Hill Dunnell was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota from 1871 to 1883 and from 1889 to 1891.

Jonathan Young Scammon was an early settler in Chicago, Illinois, arriving in the city in 1835. He went on to become politically important as a lawyer, banker, and newspaper publisher. His first wife was Mary Ann Haven Dearborn, a niece of General Henry Dearborn, with whom he had four children. His second wife was Maria Gardner Wright.

Holman Francis Day was an American author, born at Vassalboro, Maine. The Holman Day House, his home in Auburn, Maine, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His book The Rider of the King Log was adapted into the 1921 film The Rider of the King Log. His play Along Came Ruth was adapted into the 1924 film...

Peter Louis Oppenheim is an American lawyer and political advisor who currently serves as General Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Prior to assuming his current role, he served as Assistant Secretary of Education for Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the United States Department of Education.

Alfred Eliab Buck was a U.S. representative from Alabama.

Dawn Sweeney is an American business executive who served as president and chief executive officer of the National Restaurant Association from October 2007 to December 2019. She was the first woman to hold this role in the association's history.

Kevin Emerson is an American author of young adult books and is the lead singer for the band Central Services' The Board of Education.

Wyman Bradbury Seavy Moor was an American politician and lawyer from the U.S. state of Maine. His political career, interspersed with periods in private law practice, began with his service in the Maine House of Representatives, and continued when he became Maine Attorney General. Moor married Clara Ann Niel Cook (b. 1813 in Waterville, Maine) in 1834. She was a...

Herbert Mayhew Lord was a United States Army officer and public official. He was most notable for his service as the Army's Director of Finance during World War I and the Director of the United States Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) from 1922 to 1929.

Angier Louis Goodwin was a United States representative from Massachusetts.

George Otis Smith was an American geologist.

Joe Perham was an American humorist, known for his "Down East Maine" humor. Perham's humor style was an influence on Tim Sample. Sample has described Perham as a "seriously funny guy with a professionally honed native wit, which inevitably leaves his audiences weak from laughter."

Shailer Mathews was an American liberal Christian theologian, involved with the Social Gospel movement.

David Paul Linsky is an American lawyer and politician who currently represents the 5th Middlesex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Robert Sidney Gelbard is an American diplomat and former United States Ambassador to Bolivia (1988–1991) and Indonesia (1999–2001). He is a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, and is a 1964 graduate of Colby College and a 1979 graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, where he received a Master of Public Administration.

Andrew Monroe Rice is an American civic leader and politician from Oklahoma. He represented Senate District 46 in the Oklahoma State Senate. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for the United States Senate in 2008, losing to incumbent U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe.

Daniel Tarbox Jewett was an American lawyer and politician. A Republican, he was a member of the United States Senate from Missouri.

Henry Clay Merriam was a United States Army general. He received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions as a Union officer in command of African American troops during the American Civil War. He later served in various Indian Wars throughout the western United States and commanded the 7th Infantry Regiment. After being promoted...

Thomas A. Whidden is one of the most-acclaimed sailors of all-time. He is a member of both the America's Cup Hall of Fame and the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Whidden joined North Sails, the world's largest sailmaker, in 1986, just before being part of the crew of the yacht Stars & Stripes in the victory over Australia in the...

Marcellus Lovejoy Stearns was an American politician who served as the 11th Governor of Florida from 1874 to 1877 during the Reconstruction Era. Originally from Maine, he also served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, losing an arm, and served in Florida's 1868 constitutional convention and in the Florida House of Representatives, including time as speaker.

Rosecrans Baldwin is an American novelist, essayist and nonfiction author. He is also a co-founder and editor of The Morning News, an online magazine. Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Darien, Connecticut, Baldwin lives in Los Angeles, California.

James Brooks was an American educator, lawyer, and politician who represented New York City in the United States House of Representatives for seven nonconsecutive terms between 1849 and his death in 1873. Though initially a member of the Whig Party, he later joined the Democratic Party and, as a critic of the Abraham Lincoln administration, rose to become its leader...

Isaac Smith Kalloch was a Baptist pastor from New England who served as the 18th Mayor of San Francisco from December 1, 1879, to December 4, 1881. He also served as the first president of Ottawa University in Kansas from 1866 to 1868.

Patrick Dennis Duddy is an American diplomat, formerly United States Ambassador to Venezuela.

Hannibal Emery Hamlin was an American lawyer and politician from Maine. His father, Hannibal Hamlin, served as Vice President of the United States from 1861 to 1865.

Riki Ott is a marine toxicologist and activist in Cordova, Alaska. Ott was frequently introduced as an "oil spill expert" in her many media appearances during the height of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill news coverage. After graduating with a doctorate in sedimentary toxicology from the University of Washington, Ott moved to Alaska and started a fishing business....

Gregory White Smith was an American biographer of both Jackson Pollock and Vincent van Gogh. In addition to writing 18 books with Steven Naifeh, Smith was an accomplished musician, historic preservationist, art collector, philanthropist, attorney, and businessman who founded several companies including Best Lawyers, which spawned an entire industry of professional rankings.

Cyrus Hamlin was an attorney, politician, and general from Hampden, Maine, who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Leonard Swett was a civil and criminal lawyer who advised and assisted Abraham Lincoln throughout the president's political career.

Chip Smith is an American businessman, corporate adviser and political strategist. He was the Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at 21st Century Fox until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2019. A long-time political adviser, Smith served as chief of staff and deputy campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign and then in 2001 co-founded The...

John Wesley Coombs, nicknamed "Colby Jack" after his alma mater, was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics (1906–14), Brooklyn Robins (1915–18), and Detroit Tigers (1920). In 1910, Coombs won 31 games during the regular season and three games in the World Series to lead the Athletics to the...

Rocco Landesman is a long-time Broadway theatre producer. He served as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from August 2009 to December 2012. He is a part owner of Jujamcyn Theaters.

Sean McCormack is the Vice President of Communications at Chevron U.S.A. Inc. McCormack is responsible for corporate and brand communications, in addition to reputation management, employee and executive communications.

Hannah Beech is an American journalist. Since August 2017, she has been the Southeast Asia Bureau chief for The New York Times based in Bangkok. She formerly worked for Time magazine; Beech specializes in Asia, and was sometimes credited as Time's Southeast Asia bureau chief. The daughter of Keyes Beech, a prominent wartime photographer who covered World War II, the...

Erika Ayers Badan is an American businesswoman and CEO of Food52. She was the CEO of Barstool Sports from 2016 to 2024.

George Horace Lorimer was an American journalist, editor, author and publisher who worked as the editor of The Saturday Evening Post from 1899 to 1936. During his time as editor, circulation rose from several thousand to more than one million. He published the works of some of the greatest American writers and hired the then unknown illustrator Norman Rockwell to...

Jack Levine was an American Social Realist painter and printmaker best known for his satires on modern life, political corruption, and biblical narratives. Levine is considered one of the key artists of the Boston Expressionist movement.

Lot Myrick Morrill was an American politician who served as the 28th governor of Maine, as a United States senator, and as U.S. secretary of the treasury under President Ulysses S. Grant. An advocate for hard currency rather than paper money, Morrill was popularly received as treasury secretary by the American press and Wall Street. He was known for financial...

Edward John Gurney Jr. was an American politician, attorney, and U.S. Army officer who represented the state of Florida in the United States Congress, first in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1969 and then in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, Gurney was the second Republican elected to Congress from...

Stuart Rothenberg is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter The Rothenberg Political Report, now known as Inside Elections. He was also a regular columnist at Roll Call and an occasional op-ed contributor to other publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Orlando...

Harold Calvin Marston Morse was an American mathematician best known for his work on the calculus of variations in the large, a subject where he introduced the technique of differential topology now known as Morse theory. The Morse–Palais lemma, one of the key results in Morse theory, is named after him, as is the Thue–Morse sequence, an infinite binary sequence...

Mike Daisey is an American monologist, author, and actor. His monologue The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, about the labor conditions under which Apple devices are made, was used as the basis for a widely shared episode of the radio program This American Life, but the episode was later retracted for its factual inaccuracy after it was discovered...

Eric S. Rosengren took office on July 20, 2007, as the thirteenth president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, serving the First District. As a Fed president, he was a participant and voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee. He retired on September 30, 2021.

Matt Apuzzo is an American journalist working for The New York Times.

Wylie Dufresne is an American chef. He was previously the owner of Du's Donuts and the former chef and owner of the wd~50 and Alder restaurants in Manhattan. He now owns Stretch Pizza on 24th Street and Park in Manhattan. Dufresne is a leading American proponent of molecular gastronomy, the movement to incorporate science and new techniques in the preparation...

Robert Edward Diamond Jr. is an American banker and former chief executive officer of Barclays plc. In 2010, he became its president and deputy group chief executive; and in January 2011, succeeded John Varley as group chief executive of Barclays.

Lincoln Jeffrey Peirce is an American cartoonist and animator, best known as the creator of the successful Big Nate comic strip and as the author/illustrator of a series of Big Nate novels for young readers. He has also written a number of animated shorts that have appeared on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Peirce is the creator of the animated series...

Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a political major general of the Union Army during the American Civil War and had a leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. president Andrew Johnson. He was a colorful and...

Peter Mikami Rouse is an American political consultant who served as interim White House Chief of Staff to U.S. President Barack Obama. Rouse previously spent many years on Capitol Hill, becoming known as the "101st senator" during his tenure as Chief of Staff to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle.

Christopher Karl Mellon is an American former Department of Defense and United States Senate civilian staff member whose career from 1985 to 2017 focused on defense and intelligence oversight. He is an advocate for transparency in government investigations of UFOs.

Cecily Brooke von Ziegesar is an American author best known for the young adult novel series Gossip Girl.

Margaret Madeline Chase Smith was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a U.S. representative (1940–1949) and a U.S. senator (1949–1973) from Maine. She was the first woman to serve in both houses of the U.S. Congress. A Republican, she was among the first to criticize the tactics of Joseph McCarthy in her 1950 speech...

Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee Jr. is an American journalist and writer. He was a reporter and editor at The Boston Globe for 25 years, including a period when he supervised the Pulitzer Prize–winning investigation into sexual abuse by priests in the Boston archdiocese, and is the author of a comprehensive biography of Ted Williams. His book, The Forgotten: How the People...

Amy Elizabeth Walter is an American political analyst who is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Since 2015, she has also served as a political analyst for the PBS News Hour. Walter specializes in forecasting and analyzing national U.S. elections.

William Hall Bush is an American radio and television host. A member of the Bush family, he is the nephew of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush, and the cousin of the 43rd president, George W. Bush, and 43rd Florida governor Jeb Bush.

Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of numerous U.S. presidents. Goodwin's book No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995. Goodwin produced the American television miniseries Washington. She was also executive producer of...

Nelson Dingley Jr. was a journalist and politician from the U.S. state of Maine.

Jim Condron is an American artist working in painting and sculpture. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and Baltimore, MD.

Robert Brown Parker was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works include the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. In the mid-1980s, based on the character of detective Spenser, ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire. A series of TV movies was also produced based on the...

Alan Shaw Taylor is an American historian and scholar who, most recently, was the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor of History at the University of Virginia. A specialist in the early history of the United States, Taylor has written extensively about the colonial history of the United States, the American Revolution, and the early American Republic. Taylor has received two...

Gregory R. Ciottone is an American physician specializing in disaster medicine and counter-terrorism medicine. He is a professor of clinical emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School and the founding director of the BIDMC Fellowship in Disaster Medicine, the first of its kind in a Harvard teaching hospital. As well, he holds the position of director for medical preparedness at the...

Susan Keene Nutter was the vice provost and director of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries where she worked for thirty years. While she was director, in 2000, NCSU Libraries received the first Association of college and Research Libraries Excellence in Academic Libraries Award. She was instrumental in the planning, development, and construction of NCSU's Hunt Library. Called her...

Elijah Parish Lovejoy was an American Presbyterian minister, journalist, newspaper editor, and abolitionist. After his murder by a mob, he became a martyr to the abolitionist cause opposing slavery in the United States. He was also hailed as a defender of free speech and freedom of the press.

Bartlett Tripp was a diplomat, Chief Justice of the Dakota Territory Supreme Court, first professor of the University of South Dakota College of Law and first President of the South Dakota Bar Association.

Llewellyn Powers was a U.S. representative from Maine and the 44th governor of Maine.

Harris Merrill Plaisted was an attorney, politician, and Union Army officer from Maine. As colonel, he commanded the 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as Maine Attorney General, a U.S. representative, and the 38th governor of Maine.

Edna Ann Proulx is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E. A. Proulx.